Ayuh

Who uses it: Mainers
What it means: "Yes."
How you can use it: Unless you grew up here, don't even try.

I used it yesterday, and I apologize, because it's become a terrible cliche of anything written in or about Maine. "Ayuh" is a uniquely Maine word, and if you've never heard it spoken, the spelling gives you very little sense of how it's actually pronounced. It's really only one syllable; the "a" is little more than an intake of breath, deep in the back of the throat, and the "yuh" is basically "yup" without the "p." I can't say it the way natives do.

Kate wound up cancelling her holiday party, which was too bad, but also a relief. If I'd fought the weather and made it down to Boston, and then the party had been cancelled, I'd have been really upset.

It's hard to say just how much snow we got, because it settled some overnight. I'm guessing about eight inches, because there's at least six on the ground now. It's beautiful. The cemetery seems bigger under the snow, somehow, and this morning I wished I had a digital camera; everything was black and white, except for a small strip of blue sky and pink clouds off to the east.

The roads are reasonably clear now, so I'll drive down to Freeport later, to meet the Lechners for some Christmas cheer at Gritty's.